Chemistry Laboratory
Manager: Terry Arnold (terry.arnold@fhwa.dot.gov)
Overview
The purpose of the Chemistry Laboratory is to conduct fundamental studies of
highway materials aimed at understanding failure mechanisms and superior
performance, advancing state-of-the-art characterization tools, and testing and
developing new materials.
The technology and data generated in these laboratories, as well as the
expertise of the staff, are being used by State transportation agencies and
industry to enhance the durability of highway materials and to reduce operating
costs. Individual laboratories are discussed below.
The Chemistry Laboratory conducts the synthesis and characterization
of highway materials using chemical methods. The laboratory is also capable of
evaluating the susceptibility of materials to moisture damage and the beneficial
and deleterious effects of deicing chemicals.
The Analytical/Spectroscopy Laboratory provides short-term analyses of
materials via identification and semi-quantitative analysis of chemical
functional groups, inorganic elemental analyses, separation and quantification,
and thermal characterization.
The Chemistry-Analytical/ Spectroscopy Laboratory consists of
equipment for characterizing coatings and paving materials, preparing modified
asphalt binders, and researching damage induced by moisture and deicing
chemicals. Included is thermal analysis (TA) equipment, Nicolet Infrared
Spectrometers, a Waters High-Pressure Liquid Chromatograph, a Perkin Elmer
Atomic Absorption Spectrometer, high- and low-shear Silverson blenders, and
specialized equipment for evaluating moisture susceptibility of asphalt binders.
The Materials Characterization Laboratory enables researchers to see
morphological differences, as well as identify mineralogical and chemical
compositions of minerals, cementitious materials, metals, coatings, and other
highway materials.
The Materials Characterization Laboratory contains equipment for
imaging and analyzing (composition mapping) materials. This laboratory is
equipped with an Amary 1810 Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) fitted with an
energy-dispersive x-ray spectrometer (EDS) and a Nicolet Optical Microscope.
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